This traditional Greek recipe produces a delicious octopus stew with a piquant red wine sauce.

Serves: 6 Preparation time: 10m Cooks in: 1h 45m Ready in: 2h

Ingredients

1 octopus (about 1 ½ kilo)
4 cloves garlic
3 bay leaves
1 wine glass of olive oil
1 wine glass of sweet wine from Lemnos
1 wine glass of vinegar
1 wine glass of dry red wine
Coarse ground pepper

Method

Step 1

Make sure the octopus is thoroughly cleaned. Place the whole octopus in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Cover with the lid and put a weight on top to prevent the evaporation of the fluids. Cook for half an hour.

Step 2

Add the garlic, the bay leaves and the olive oil. Then, add the vinegar, the dry wine and, finally, the sweet wine. Bring the ingredients to a good boil.

Step 3

Cover again the lid, lower the heat and simmer the octopus for about 1 hour, until tender and until the sauce thickens. Before serving, sprinkle with plenty of pepper.

Photo: George Drakopoulos, Food Styling: Tina Webb

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